For the last decade, Ugandan Football Clubs have made notable progress towards commercializing and professionalising of the sport. All in a drive to land more revenue for both the league and clubs.
Several top tier outfits such as SC Vipers, KCCA FC, SC Villa among others have been busy developing modern systems in order to thrive in the improved era of operation.
However, only a few clubs have been able to make the right appointments for the newly created roles such as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Director of Football.
Problems have continuously emerged from failure to define clear roles of the newly birthed departments, lack of a clear hierarchy thus impeding success of the departments. For clubs to grow, pioneer football administrator, Ivan Kakembo maintains the systems are key.
In an exclusive interview with Gateway News, the FIFA Diploma in Club Management holder said Ugandan outfits need to invest in structures and as well separate roles in order to monitor progress of the club. He shared pointers on how to manage a successful football entity.
Kakembo argues that a Club CEO needs to be in total control of internal and external forces such as infighting and external forces like the Press and social media.
“Many clubs still have no distinction between their executive bodies, technical staff and fans, many administrators have no say in influencing decisions,
“Organization structure and ensuring every employee in the club secretariat has clear roles on which you evaluate their performance is very desirable.” He stated
He also underscored the essence of marrying sports results, business results, and community results in order to foster a formidable club.
Key Qualities
Kakembo says to successfully execute a modern football role, one needs to be a good team player and have the right football qualifications.
“It is is key to have a football administration background, passion for the game of football to protect it an your time allocation to it as it demands a lot of planning.” he noted
The former SC Villa and URA FC boss advises that one must spend more time planning and laying strategies in order to spend less time implementing the same.
Player recruitment
Kakembo pointed out that the player recruit meant process is one to handle delicately and diligently. “Player recruitment raises many ugly heads in Ugandan football.” he said
He suggests for a club to complete a successful process, the recruitment must be in line with the Club Strategy and as well based on information from the scouting department and the Head Coach’s wishlist.
“A Sporting Director with an expanse of knowledge in the player recruitment business, with good mental health comes in handy when it comes to such a process.” he said
He furthermore revealed that recruitment should be based on genuine data collected by a scouting department following technical recommendations.
“Criteria should be in place for identifying potential candidates, for example, a scout should watch at least 50 games involving prospects, employing modern recruitment tools like video-Wyscout, player statics, among others,
“The financial and political atmosphere of the club should be examined too. A scout must provide several player options from the market.” he started
About Ivan Kakembo
Ivan Kakembo is a certified root All Administrator with FIFA, CAF, and FUFA certifications. He has been at the helm of local clubs such as SC Villa, URA FC and Nyamityobora, he is currently the Director of Football Development at Soltilo Bright Stars in the Uganda Premier League.
He is the founder of Uganda Youth Soccer Academy (UYSA) and Dostiva Sports Management Agency.
About The Author
